Time controlled switch



Sept. 1, 1931. c. R GAINS TIME CONTROLLED SWITCH' 3 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed April 29, 1929 q/vdmeooeo fax Sept. 1, 1931. c. R. GAINS TIMECONTROLLED SWITCH Filed April 29, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet, 2

IW HP I VIII/fill] 7131/1 V I dww/wiloz CfiSZerZ. Gains anoonup p 1931-c. R. GAINS 1,821,629

TIME CONTROLLED SWITCH Filed April 29; 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet. 5

Patented Sept. 1, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHESTER R. GAINS, OFMUSOA'IINE, IOWA TIME CONTROLLED SWITCH Application filed April 29,1929. Serial No. 358,963.

- ne object of the invention is to provide 1 a novel construction inwhich the snap movcment of the switch again applies the means whichnormally holds the above-mentioned self-acting means against operationso that said self-acting means need not function any 15 longer thannecessary.

Another aim is the provision of a unique construction inwhich manualsetting of the aforesaid self-acting means at its normal position inreadiness for operation, moves the switch to one position and tensions aspring which is to later operate said self-acting means to effectmovement of the switch to the other position.

A still further object is toprovide a com-- paratively simple andinexpensive, yet an efficient, durable and reliable construction usableto advantage in a great number of fields for either automaticallycompleting or breaking a circuit to cause or discontinue operation ofany apparatus, machine, etc., as may be desired.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplishedby reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the invention associated with a clock,certain parts of the clock mechanism and the casing of the entire devicebeing omitted, with the exception of the back plate of said casing.

. Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 1'.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation partly in section showing oneposition of parts.

Fig. 4 is a duplicate of Fig. 3 with the exception that it illustratesthe various parts set in condition for operation.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view substantially on line 55 of Fig.3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View showing a dif ferent form of construction.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of a number of the associated partsshown in F ig. 6'.

The construction shown in Figs. 1 to 5 will first be described and thevariations of the second form of construction will then be explained. Indescribing both forms of the invention, even thouglithe descriptivematter will be rather specific, it is to be understood that within thescope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

A clock frame 8 is shown and upon it a conventional clock train ismounted for driving the usual hand shafts 910. Driven from a suitableportion of the clock train, is a gear 11 (Fig. 2). This gearfrictionally drives a control disk 12 having a peripheral notch 13 withwhich the free end of a control member 14 is co-operable. Said free endof the member 14 normally abuts the periphery of the disk 12 but aspring 15.is operatively I associated with said member and whenever thenotch 13 arrives at the proper position, after setting of the entiredevice by hand, said spring moves the member 14 andefieetsswitch-throwing as hereinafter explained. 16 denotes a dial which isinstrumental in setting the disk 12 so that its notch 13 is spaced anydesired distance from the free end of the control member 14, so that thelength of the period in advance of automatic throwing of the switch, maybe of any desired duration. Preferably the disk 16 is graduated inminutes and when zero.on said disk is spaced say five minutes from apointer on the casing (not shown), live minutes will be required for thenotch 13 to move to the position at which it permits movement of thecontrol member 14 under the action of the spring 15. \Vhen such movementof the member 14 takes place, automatic throwing of the switch iseffected.

A snap switch S of conventional form is shown mounted upon the backplate B of the casing for the entire structure. In order that a betterunderstanding of the way in which this switch is operated, may beobtained, its

construction will be briefly explained.

17 denotes a substantially vertical plate suitably mounted upon the backplate B and provided with two brackets 18 spaced from each other andmounted parallel with said back plate. Pivoted to the outer sides ofthese brackets at 19, is a U-shaped yoke 20 carrying contacts 21 whichare insulated from said yoke. A tension spring 22 is shown for snappingthe yoke 20 in one direction or the other after it has first beentensioned and moved to a predetermined position. A spring-tensioningdevice 23 is pivoted at 24 to the brackets 18 and passes through theelongated aperture 25 of the plate 17. When member 23 is in alinementwith the spring 22, the latter is under full tension and the partsare ondead center. Movement of member 23 upwardly from this position causesspring 22 to act and snap the yoke 20 upwardly, while movement of saidmember 23 downwardly from said position, causes said spring 22 tosimilarly snap the yoke 20 downwardly. Member 23 when at rest is eitherabove or below the neutral line and hence it will be seen that beforethe switch can operate under the snap action of the spring 22,predetermined movement must be imparted to the member 23, and I haveherein referred to this movement as the pre-snap movement.

Obviously, the contacts 21 may co-operate with any desired stationarycontacts such as indicated at 26 in Figs. 3 and 4 and while in theconstruction illustrated a circuit will be completed only when saidcontacts 21 are lowered, it will be obvious that the reverse might beprovided for, or that said contacts might complete one circuit whenlowered and another circuit when raised. Furthermore, it is to beunderstood that while I have shown one form of snap switch S forillustrative purposes, any other desired type of similar switch could beemployed.

Rotatably mounted upon the clock frame 8 and extending rearwardly beyondthe back plate B, is a shaft 27 on the rear end of which is secured amanually set arm 28. This arm is provided with a rearyvardly projectingstud 29 slidably received in a slot 30 in a link 31, the upper end ofsaid link being pivoted at 32 to the spring tensioning member 23 of theswitch S. The stud 29 and slot 30 constitute a 'lost-motion connectionbetween arm 28 and link 31 for a purpose to appear.

A spring 33 surrounds the shaft 27, is anchored at one end to this shaftand is fixed at its other end 34 to the frame 8, and said shaft 27 has aratchet connection 35 with a gear 36 mounted upon it. This gear is partof a train for driving a verge wheel 37.

Parts of this train are hidden in the drawings but a portion of it isshown at 38 in Fig. 1. A verge 39 on a verge shaft 40 is co-operablewith the verge wheel 37 and a clapper 41 is mounted on said verge shaftfor co-action with a bell 42. The verge shaft 40 is provided with alateral arm 43 having an outwardly bowed portion 44', said arm beingco-operable with a lateral linger 45 on a pivoted arm 46 carried by theframe 8. Arm 46 is connected by a link 47 with an arm 48 secured to thecontrol member 14. lVhen finger 45 is bearing against arm 43 as shown inFig. 1, the verge shaft 40 is held against oscillation and consequentlythe verge wheel 37 and the gear train 38 are held, so that gear 36 is inturn held against rotation. This relation of parts is shown in Figs. 1and 2, and it is the relation which exists immedi ately after automaticthrowing of the switch has been elfected. The parts remain in thesepositions until the mechanism is to be again set for automaticoperation.

When it is desired to set the switch mechanism, the dial 16 is turned tothe proper extent to set the notch 13 of the disk 12 the proper distancefrom the co-acting end of the control member 14. Then the arm 28 ispulled downwardly. At this time, the gear 36 is held against rotation bythe associated gear train, the verge wheel 37, the verge 39, the arm 43and the finger 45 as seen in Fig. 1. Consequently, the downward swingingof the arm 28 causes shaft 27 to rotate to wind the spring 33, theratchet connection 34 then idling and finally serving to againoperative- 1y connect shaft 27 with gear 36. As this gear is now heldagainst rotation as above explained, shaft 27 is also held againstrotation under the action of the wound spring. The downward swinging ofthe arm 28 in addition to tensioning the spring 23, pulls downwardlyupon link 31 (see Fig. 4) thereby imparting the necessary pre-snap movement to the spring-tensioning member 23 of the switch S, with the resultthat spring 22 functions to downwardly shift the -contacts 21.

Summarizing the immediately preceding explanation, downward swinging ofarm 28 by hand winds the spring 33 and effects movement of the switch Sin one direction, the arm being held in its lowered position due to thefact that shaft 27 is held against rotation by the verge wheel 37, verge39 and associated parts. The switch will remain in this condition untilnotch 13 of the control disk 12 permits movement of the control member14 under the influence of the spring 15. \Vhen this movement takesplace, arm 48 and link 47 swing the holding arm 46 downwardly oppositethe outwardly bowed portion 44 of the arm 43, with the result that thisarm is freed so that the verge 38 may oscillate. Consequently, the vergewheel 37, the gear train 38, the gear 36, the shaft 27 and the arm 28are all now moved under the action of the previously wound spring 33,and at the same time the clapper 41 operates the alarm. As arm 28 israised under the action of spring 33, it pushes upwardly against link31, thereby giving the necessary pre-snap movement to thespring-tensioning member 23 of the switch S, so that when this memberreaches the proper position, said spring 22 acts to upwardly snap thecontacts 21. Provision is made whereby this snap action of the switch Sagain effects movement of arm 46 so that its finger will co-act with arm43, thereby locking the verge 39 and the verge wheel 37, so that gear 36and shaft27 will not further move. Before describing this provision, itmay be explained that upon the snap action of the switch when thecontacts 21 are being either moved upwardly or downwardly, the necessarymovement of the member 23 and the link 31 with respect to the arm 28, ispermitted by thelost motion connection 2930.

Near the arm 48, a shaft is mounted upon the frame 8, said shaft beingprovided with a crank pin 51 for co-action with the arm 48 projectingfrom the control member 14. Shaft 50 is also provided with a crank arm52 having a crank pin 53 passing rearwardly through a slot 54 in theback plate of the frame 8 and a similar slot 55 in the back plate 18.Pin 53 is received in a slot 56 in one end of a lever 57, said leverbeing fulcrumed at 58 between the plate B and the back'plate of theframe 8. The end of lever 57 remote from the slot 50, is provided with alateral finger 59 which passes through an arcuate slot 60 in the backplate B, said finger being connected with the yoke 20, preferably bygiving said finger a forked form and placing the fork arms astride oneside member of said yoke.

When arm 28 is pulled downwardly and the switch occupies the positionshown in Fig. 4, lever 57, pin 53 and arm 52 turn the shaft 50 to theposition shown in said figure, in which position, crank pin 51 is out ofcontact with arm 48, as shown. Consequently, at the proper time, thecontrol member 14 may move under the influence of the spring 15 toefiect upward swinging of arm 28 under the in fluence of spring 33 andconsequent shifting of the switch S again to the position shown in Figs.1, 2 and 3. As soon as the upward snap action of the switch takes place,yoke 20 swings lever 57, so that pin 53 and arm 52 turn shaft 50 andcause its crank pin 51 to raise arm 48. Such raising disengages thecontrol member 14 from the notch 13, pulls upwardly upon the link 47 andpositions the finger 45 of the arm 46 in the path of the arm 43 on theverge shaft 40. Consequently, the verge mechanism is again held with theresult that shaft 27 is held against further movement under the actionof the spring 33. The entire mechanism is thus in readiness for settingagain to operate at the expiration of any desired time.

Before going on to an explanation of Figs.

6 and 7, it may be well to briefly explain that the dial 16 is setaccording to the time at which the switch is to be automaticallyoperated and the arm 28 is pulled downwardly. This downward movement ofarm 28 efiects shifting of the switch S to one position and also effectswinding of the spring At the expiration of the predetermined time whenmember 14 is released by the notch 13 of the disk 12, shaft 27 starts torotate and the alarm is sounded, and the rotation of said shaft swingsarm 28 upwardly so that it imparts the pre-snap movement to the switchand finally the snap action of the latter takes place to affect thecircuit as desired. This snap action operates lever 57 and associatedparts to turn the shaft 50 to a position at which its crank pin 51 againeffects application of the means for holding the shaft 27 againstrotation. The entire mechanism is then in readiness for re-settingwhenever required.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a construction in which the verge wheel 37 and theverge 39 are at the upper portion of the clock frame 8'. The gear train38 drives the verge wheel 37 when permitted to do so, being in turndriven by a gear 36 corresponding to the gear 36. Gear 36 is loose upona shaft 27 corresponding to shaft 27, and upon this shaft is a spring 33correspoonding to spring 33. The rear end of shaft 27 carries an arm 28which operates a switch mechanism in the same manner as above described,said arm acting also as winding means for the spring 33 when swungdownwardly.

Upon the shaft 40 of the verge 39 is an arm 46 which is directlyco-operable with an arm 48 with which the control member 14 is provided.50 denotes a transverse shaft controlled in the same manner as the shaft50 above described, said shaft 50 having a crank pin 51' directlyco-operable with the arm 48. WVhen arm 28 is pulled downwardly tocondition the mechanism for later operation, shaft 50 rotates and movesthe crank pin 51 away from the arm 48 so that the .control member 14 mayoperate at the proper. time. vVhen automatic throwing of.

the switch is effected however, shaft 50 is automatically turned to aposition at which its crank pin 51 forces the arm 48 downwardly upon thearm 46, thereby holding the verge shaft 40 against oscillation andconsequently preventing further rotation of the shaft 27.

Shaft 40 mayor may not operate an alarm, as may be desired.

I claim 1. A time-controlled circuit controller comprisinga snap switch,a manually set member having a lost-motion connection with said switchfor imparting pre-snap movement to said switch when said member is movedfrom its set position, a spring operatively connected with and tensionedby movement of said member to set position, releasable means for holdingsaid manually set member and the tensioned spring against all movementfollowing winding of the latter by means of the former, time-controlledmeans independent of said spring for releasing said holding means at theexpiration of a given period after winding said spring, thereby allowingthe spring to move said member from its set position and effect presnapmovement of said switch, and means operativcly connected with andactuated by said switch for utilizing the snap movement thereof to againapply said holding means, preventing further movement of said springafter it has effected switch operation.

2. A circuit controller comprising a support, a snap switch mountedthereon and having a quick-moving switch member, manually actuated meansfor effecting snap movement of said switch member in one direction,spring driven means for effecting snap movement of said switch member inthe other direction, holding means for said spring driven means, andcontrol means for said holding means, said control means being directlyconnected with said quick-moving switch member and actuated thereby toapply said holding means when said switch member snaps in said otherdirection.

3. A circuit controller comprising a support, a snap switch mountedthereon and having a quick-moving switch member, manually actuated meansfor eflecfing snap movement of said switch member in one direction,spring driven means for effecting snap movement of sa d switch member inthe other direction, holding means for said spring-driven means, anelement mounted on said support and directly connected with saidquick-moving switch member to be actuated thereby, and connecting meansbetween said element and said holding means, said element and saidconnecting means co-operating to apply said holding means when saidswitch member snaps in said other direction.

4. A circuit controller comprising a support, a snapswitch mountedthereon and having a quick-moving switch member, manually actuated meansfor effecting snap movement of said switch member in one direction,spring driven means for effecting snap movement of said switch member inthe other direction, holding means for said springdriven means, a leverfulcrumed on said support for movement uni-directionally with I saidquick-moving switch member, said lever being directly connected withsaid quick- 5. A circuit controller comprising a support, a snap switchmounted thereon and having a quick-moving switch member, manuallyactuated means for effecting snap movement of said switch member in onedirection, spring driven means for effecting snap movement of saidswitch member in the other direction, holding means for saidspring-driven means, a lever fulcrumed between its ends on said supportfor movement uni-directionally with said quick-moving switch member,said lever having a laterally projecting forked end straddling a portionof said quick-moving switch member, whereby said switch member will movesaid lever and connecting means to apply said holding means whensaid'switch member snaps in said other direction.

6. A time-controlled circuit controller comprising a frame, a snapswitch of springactuated type mounted on said frame and embodying amember for tensioning its spring, spring-driven means mounted on saidframe, said spring-driven means having a shaft which winds the spring ofsaid springdriven means when rotated in one direction and is thereafterrotatable in the other direction under the influence of'this spring, amanually set arm secured to said shaft for rotating it in said onedirection, and a link pivoted at one end to said spring-tensioningmember of said snap switch, the other end of said link having a slidableand pivotal connection with said arm, whereby said link establishes alost-motion connection between said arm and said spring-tensioningmember of said snap switch for imparting pro-snap movement thereto whensaid arm is rotated in said other direction by said spring of saidspring-driven means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

CHESTER R. GAINS.

